Someone recommended me a fantastic book on corporate stupidity. Here’s just one of the million small gems it contains:

For instance, many companies conclude that they need to be more innovative. To increase their rates of innovation, they look at firms well known for being innovative, such as Google, then dispatch their executives to Silicon Valley to visit tech companies’ corporate campuses in the hope that they will learn something.

Not surprisingly, the book authors observed the same behavior in those companies as I did a while ago when I was still teaching SDN workshops:

They often ignore the fact that Google is an entirely different sector to them, and the lessons in view probably of limited value. They also overlook that even if they do learn something, actually implementing it within their organization is likely to be difficult, if not impossible.

Finally a warning: that book will make you laugh or cry hysterically (or both), so take it in small daily doses.